Suggested lighting on zoos

[tikireefer]

I was wondering what is the suggested lighting for zoos. What lighting have you guys seen produce the best growth? MH? VHO? Combination of both......how many watts?

 

[RevHtree]

I have seen great growth when I used PC's and now that I have metal halides I see geat growth as well.

 

[CoralNutz]

IMO, VHO's are the way to go on a zoa dominated tank. If you ever plan on doing some sps you might want some halide... I would save your money on PC's. I have tried every different brand of bulb out there (that I could find) and have yet to find a PC actinic that even came close to VHO actinic.

 

[RevHtree]

Yes if you are asking which one you should buy go with the VHO over the PC's for sure.

 

[tangey]

I have PC's and Metal Halide and both produce great growth

 

[ReefLife1680]

IME, PCs do wonders!

 

[ficklefins]

I would suggest MH lights. Here is why. I had PC lights on my tank and never got great colors from my zoas. I then went to MH lights over a smaller tank and after 2 months my tank was full of color. With MH lights you will not have to upgrade when you want more light demanding corals. I have placed zoas at the bottom middle and top of my tank with MH lights and they did better 8inches from the 250w MH light than at the bottom of the tank.

I would go MH and not have to upgrade later.

 

[falcon41176]

pc bring out nice color in the zoos

 

[smp]

Everyone is going to recommend what they have.
I don't have MH, but I WANT MH. I have 3 tubes of PC light and two NO T5s over my tank and I would trade them ALL for one 250 watt MH retrofit!

You can't get that amazing shimmer effect with any other lighting and MH just gives you the most flexibility.